Loigman & Ortiz Win Fire Commissioner Elections – Budget Defeated By Wide Margin

FIRST REPORT: [VIDEO OF LARRY’S VICTORY SPEECH – UPDATED -11:55 PM] Fire Commissioner incumbent Juan Ortiz and newcomer Attorney Larry Loigman won this evening’sFire Commissioners elections. They will serve for a 3 year term.

Juan Ortiz got 708 votes, Larry Loigman received 553 and Vince Lobello  got 320 votes.

The budget was voted down, 601 – 205.

There was a much stronger voter turnout this year, with a total of 1,581 people voting.

Last year, 920 people voters took to the polls and the budget was defeated by 52 votes. TLS.

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112 COMMENTS

  1. Does anyone know what the vote was in previous years, say 2008.
    Just wondering if before all the publicity there were more than 50 votes for these elections….

  2. Mazal Tov Larry!

    My wife and I were pleased to be 2 of the 553. 🙂

    We are sure that you will succeed, not only in this position, but also in others in the future IY”H.

    Good luck!

  3. WOW! Thanks to all those concerned “block” voters!! But, now when things go awry who will you blame?? Yourself? Larry? Hahaha! Maybe it’s George Bush’s fault?? I will sit back and watch now! Let’s see how you plan to save the “taxpayers” more money! Take away surplus funds to show “cuts” and then when a purchase is necessary how will it be funded? Bonds!! Oh and sorry Commissioner Lobello! Thank you for all you have done for the Lakewood Fire Department!

  4. Of course it won’t lower the taxes yet. Larry is just one of five. Every year we’ll vote it a new commissioner so that eventually we’ll have enough to lower taxes

  5. from the budjet question it seems there were about 826 voters. Now add 708 + 553 + 320=1581. 1581/2 = 790.1

    There were 1581 votes, but likely around 826 people voting. big difference.

  6. #4, it says in the story that last year, when there was ALOT of publicity, there was 920 people voting.
    Does anyone know how many people voted in 2009 or 2010 (BEFORE there was all this publicity)?
    Was it 100 people or LESS???

  7. Just so you know the fire tax you pay in Lakewood is NOTHING compared to other towns and by voting down the budget you won’t even notice the change in your taxes!

  8. heaven has helped and loigman won! dont be so worried, if anything happens it will be that the process to become a voluntair will become easier than ever and it will become extremly self sufficient just like in the monsey fire department! theres no lack of vol. there and there wont be any lack in lakewood either. gaurenteed!

  9. Like many people have pointed out the fire budget as percentage of the total budget is miniscule and will not have a noticeable impact on your tax bill.
    However what is important is the message the voters are sending .
    We care . The tziburs money is Kodesh.
    If we put our foot down with the small change politicians will be careful with the big bills as well.

  10. We will still do what we love to do ….. but let’s see when all the other volunteers show up to join the LFD…. We could sure use those 200 that were supposed to be here last year.

  11. Vince we are sorry to see you go. Everyone knows how you put your heart and soul into the Fire Dept. and it’s appreciated, and by some, obviously, underappreciated.

  12. After reading the comments here, I now know how the “community” really thinks of the Volunteer Firemen in this town. Voting your conscience is one thing, turning this into a power struggle and gloating about how the “community” won, today is a sad day.

  13. Larry,
    congratulations, make sure your phones on 24 /6 you’ll need to break away alot from your day job and some times in the middle of the night . Please invest in a good set of coveralls to keep your clothes clean because commissioner do get dirty when thing dont go right.more to it than showing up on a monday night I can only hope you will be as hands on as the gentleman that you defeated, because he saved the town alot of money and time by being very involved over the last 20 years. Juan congratulation also

  14. I intentionally stayed home because although I’d like to see my taxes lowered, this whole thing has turned too dirty. I didn’t know what the right thing was to do.

  15. once again the “community” voted down an important budget within the township. this is the FIRE PROTECTION budget.. once it gets voted down it goes to twp commette for possible reductions then approved.. tha the residents of the twp have no real clue what their voting down. they just think they win, how untrue. if the fire dept was gone what would the community do?? fire services are not free. yes even in a volunteer department their are costs involved in running the department, like insurance,equipment, training etc. i feel bad for my brother firefighters in lakewood that this budget was defeated.. as most of you all know the fire department has been very busy over last couple days 3 house fires in 3 days..where do u think the monies come from…what were they thinking over there..sad day for lakewood twp..

  16. Way to go. By attempting to fix something that was not broken, the only thing you guys have done is broken the will of our current firefighters. They supported Vinny, you guys, who don’t know anything at all about the administration of the FD decided to vote against him based on…. what? It’s utterly ridiculous that this was even a contest. There was no reason at all this had to happen. Well, aside from the elephant in the room.

  17. As a member of the “community” I can’t help but wonder why everyone feels the need to gloat over this win. Vote how you see fit and go home. No one can say that Mr. Lobello didn’t have our saftey in mind, say thank you and wish him all the best, we owe him that much and more.

  18. Well spoken fd supporter….. I personally was at two of the three fires you spoke of but unfortunately I was unable to be at the fire this morning (Sat. Morning ) because I was on my way to teach a class at the fire academy….. and by the way …. I don’t get paid for that either.

  19. Unfortunately, some people have made this about us vs them.

    Nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone in Lakewood appreciates the volunteer firefighters and they had nothing to do with this election.

    This election was about the FIRE COMMISSIONERS, not the firefighters.

    The budget was defeated because the voters in town feel that there is not enough oversight on the budget process of the Fire Dept, and that the time has come for the Fire Commissioners to have some accountability to the Lakewood voters/ taxpayers/ homeowners.

    Again, this has nothing to do with the firefighters themselves. All of Lakewood appreciates and respects all that the firefighters do for us.

    I ask you all to think about the following question: When we vote for a new President this November to replace Obama, does that mean that we don’t appreciate the hard work of the federal employees, or the soldiers in the US Army? Of course, one has nothing to do with the other. While we appreciate the hard work of the federal employees and the soldiers of the US Army, we still feel that we need a new US President, because Obama’s policies are no good.

    The same is true for the Lakewood Fire Dept. We respect the hard work of the firefighters, and we appreciate all that you do. But the administration needs to change, because frankly Lakewood’s taxpayers want accountability at all levels of government. And that includes the leadership of the Fire Dept.

    Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Nobody should have absolute power, Fire Commissioners included. Accountability is a must.

    Every firefighter should know that this election had nothing to do with them. This was about leadership and accountability at the administration level.

  20. Congrats to Larry. I went out and voted for you.
    I just hope everyone commenting on this post and any other about elections, went out and voted. If you didnt, then you are a hypocrite- making hock and complaining and you dont even vote.

  21. Well we no Larry won’t be able to assist our firefighters on Friday nights and Saturday during the day, oh yeah what about the other jewish religious holidays. I hope nothing important arises needing his attention. This should be interesting.

  22. To RebRambo….your on point……We shall see what the new fellow…. and yes I left the s off of fellow … have to offer…. well then we will just have to wait and see what happens….hopefully “Commissioner Loigman” knows how and what it takes to deal with the diversity of the LFD Because being a commissioner does not only mean counting dollars and cents …. it means knowing your people ….meaning the FIREFIGHTERS AND ALL OTHERS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT and I’m sorry to say but

  23. To All who dont understand what the outcomes of this is i will tell you what i know your Home owners Insurance will go up . All because of Budget cuts and so on. And then everybody will be saying down the road we made a mistake

  24. To just me …. Thank you but please … with all do respect…… please do not say it’s not about the firefighters because no matter what way you cut the bread so to speak .. unless you know and understand first hand and the only way you or anyone else could do that is to be a firefighter

  25. To # 38 – To Vote down a Budget that (1) Provides the funding for BETTER/SAFER equipment for the Firefighters, (2) Provides for replacement of AGING and or OUT DATED equipment, (3) Provides for MAINTENANCE/REPAIR of a Fleet of Fire Apparatus, and I could go on. Yourself and the voters like you do indeed show the FireFighters in town all we need to know. They are not appreciated, are not supported and are basically “Expendable”. The budget always has been and still is a SOLID FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE BUDGET. Yes there was a surplus. So, since when is it Fiscally unresponsible to have a balanced budget, and ROLL ANY UNAPPROPRIATED FUNDS into the following years budget????
    So yes the Volunteer Fire Dept, who you try to pat on the back with one hand, are being INJURED by what the other hand is doing.

  26. To Just me:
    Nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone in Lakewood appreciates the volunteer firefighters and they had nothing to do with this election.

    This election was about the FIRE COMMISSIONERS, not the firefighters.

    **The budget has everything to do with the Firefighters..from our gear to our trucks to our training and equipment costs. The budget you voted down is our OPERATING BUdget. Where do you think we get all our money from? The community doesn’t care about us they think we run for free, have you heard of Fire Hydrants? We don’t own them we Rent them, The water that comes out of them..that isnt free either..Maybe your 200 applicants can get in gear and get in companies for training..and oh by the way we run 24/7 365 .

    Thanks for the great voting.& .Vince- Thanks for your service.

  27. If it is all about the budget then how come no one goes out and makes a big deal about the school budget? If you are worried about all your tax money why do we have busses following each other going to the same place?

  28. To #38 Just me:
    This was about the firefighters! this is where we get our equipment and our training money. The first issue that Mr loigman ran on was cutting our supply money then returning the board to the township control. I was here when the township funded the Fire Department, we didn’t get gear when we came in we got it 6 months later. Truck repairs took months not days as they do now. The the older firemen were here under the township, guess what trucks got 2 way radios first….. the garbage trucks… don’t know what that thinking was about.
    With the election of Mr loigman the “community” has stated this is what we want to go back to! If you eliminate the Fire Board and put it under the township what taxes do you think will be saved, the town clerk will be asking for more assistants to cover the new workload. Anytime a fire question comes up the township will have to hire an expert to answer the question, now we have the experts on the board. If mr loigman gets his way the Fire Department will make a giant leap 25 years into the PAST. This was a power move, lets see what you do with the power!

  29. #11, How are “people thinking for themselves” when they follow the recommendation of the LAC, Lakewood Shopper, etc like blind sheep? Why don’t you speak to the excellent volunteer firefighters themselves; after all, most responses are that this is not about them. I’ll take a firefighter’s recommendation over the LAC anytime since they are the ones in the know and don’t have some sort of political agenda!

  30. No, just me, you did make it us vs. them. If you wanted accountability you would have come to commissioner meetings and asked questions instead of following the rumor mongers. If you wanted a Jewish commissioner which is exactly what this was about and you respected what we did you would have put someone up with fire fighting credentials. I know of no one who would have had a problem with that.Your community showed just how much it cared for what we do.
    So glad I can sleep thru the night after 40 some years on the job. Now Larry and his league of 200 can protect you all. As a third generation Lkwd FF my family never expected any kind of thanks for the time we put in but never did we expect the community we served to deal us a ration of (moderated) either. Invest in buckets, you’re gonna need them.
    Thank you also Township committee members (moderated).
    Good luck Lakewood.
    Mr moderator, It would be nice if you published in full comments you do not totally agree with. Then people that get all their news from this site only would have all opinions to make their choices from.

  31. You just DESTROYED the LFD. Where are the 200 volunteers that said they were going to join last time? And I don’t understand how everyone thinks that the application process is going to be easier it’s a PROCESS the fire dept. allows ANYONE that passes the required background check to join. No one has EVER been turned away for any reason other than not passing a background check performed by the PD or for failing a drug test. Vince you will be missed as a commissioner you put your blood sweat and tears and heart and soul into the fire dept. You were there ANY time of the day/night 24/7/365.

  32. You keep saying put us back under township control but think about it the FD is the only dept. that hasn’t been threatened of layoffs or being told they have to take a 30% paycut or switch their insurance to keep a job. Whys that? The board of fire commissioners are running the fire dept the way it SHOULD BE RUN! It should have been left alone your going to see a HUGE difference now but hey this is what the community wanted so don’t cry when you see what you have done to an outstanding dept!

  33. I dont understand what all this madness is about?!?! Everyone is in agreement that the volunteers need money to purchase lifesaving and firefighting equipment. NO ONE IS CUTTING THAT MONEY OUT! what Loigman wants to do is simply cut away at the extra money that even the commissioners agree is extra each year which is about 600k annually. Loigman is fighting that the commissioners simply tax the town for what they need and not to store in some surplus account somewhere. If only the commissioners would have agreed to do so last month, there would not have been anyone endorsing loigman. But the commissioners chose to put up a fight so here you have it!

  34. The surplus is carried over from year to year. If you had a savings account with 600,000 in it you would not add it up for the last 3 years and say you had 1.8 million. Thats what is going on here. The reason the operating expenses are lower than the budget is because of fiscal responsibility. Would you rather the Fire dept spend more than it takes in??????. So when the year ends and there is 600,000 in the bank you don’t just forget that money it is included in the next years budget. So this year if there is 3.2 million in the budget it includes last years surplus. The state DCA requires an indepentent audit yearly of the fire districts!!!! Do you think an independent auditor would rubber stamp a budget and put their business on the line… I don’t think so. Thats the reason for the requirement of an independent audit, what everyone here is clamoring about, OVERSIGHT. There is no wrong doing here just a group of firefighters trying to do a job that is dangerous at best and deadly at worst. Now the town HAS SPOKEN and they can not thank the firefighters on one hand while bashing them on the other. Remember our commisioners are firefighters both past and present. A Dig at them is a dig at the Entire LAKEWOOD FIRE DEPT. If there was any wrongdoing the firefighters would hold the Commisioners accountable our lives depend on our equipment funding and most importantly the person behind you. If you think the fire dept does a great job and would like to thank them then vote yes for the budget as the dept is only as good as its management. So if as you say the management is so bad why is it that the fire dept has done such a great job??? If a company goes under you look at its management as to why. If the same company does great the CEO gets a bonus. Well here you are saying the Fire Dept is great but the management needs to go????? Ask yourself WHY????

  35. everyone keeps complaining that a commissioner should be a firefighter to be able to make proper decisions and everyone is all upset loigman won and he isnt even a firefighter. But really whos fault is that??? many firefighters were approached to become the candidate for commissioner this year and that would have satisfied everyone. But guess what?! Not even one firefighter was willing to become commissioner against Vincent. so the next obvious thing to do is put in an outsider until the firefighters get their act together and put a firefighter in like everyone wanted from the beginning. To All Firefighter in Lakewood: Stop being stupid and get with the program. If youre not gonna listen to what people have to say you gonna end up getting steamrolled by a voting block.

  36. Congrats to Larry but……… Vinnie put so much into this job. His blood sweat and tears, and how about his wife and family with the loss of time with being with them. A wonderful thank you for all the years that you did this job. Let’s call a spade a spade……. We have puppets that are told who to vote for. They should be advised as to the work that the person has performed and then vote……….
    The elections at the fire house opened my eyes. There was a woman there from the county directing people as to what line to go into. Next time, tell her to wear her entire skirt. Not a short skirt which is not appropriate……… Did she think she looked nice? no way…… It did cause stares from the men and the women too. Yes, I do my homework and check things out before I vote. I wish others would do the same.

  37. The money that we pay in FD taxes is nothing, look at your tax bill ( if you even pay taxes) . The reason for the surplus, is OUTSTANDING management by the COMMISSIONERS and administration of our tax dollar. The FD is the only department on the tax roll that holds its own , let’s make that WAS the only one. Lakewood is in for a rude awakening. YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW !!!!!!

  38. I’m not sure what really happened saturday night in the fire elections. the bottom line is that every public dept in the world survives without surpluses. and frankly voters in lakewood are just fed up with what seems like excessive spending by the township. For example, what’s with the mammoth disney land of pubic works campus on Cedarbridge, its fit for s city 3 times Lakewood size! the bottom line is almost all of us our struggling and we don’t end the year with a surplus!
    as far as the surplus being necessary , the fire dept. did not make a case at all for themselves at all that this was necessary/good idea/good business sense. why wait till after the results to start communicating all these important facts/ all i saw was a personal agenda of Lobello over Loigman or vice versa.
    Either way i find the comments about lakewood burning and other such comments gravely disturbing. are you firefighter or not? would you really stop saving lives and extinguishing fires because your administration and budget were not approved. its not like we are calling for the FD to be de-funded. we just don’t want you to operate at a surplus. please remember why you became FF. i hope it wasn’t because “trucks got fixed in days not months” please tell me it was because you felt a civic responsibility to the town. I understand that the FF are upset. But I urge you to face this new administrative reality with a sense of cooperation and I’m sure everything will work out just fine. if not next time around make your case to the public and get who ever you want elected. thank you for your service mr. Lobello , welcome aboard mr. Loigman

  39. from the comments posted here and other articles it is obvious that censorship is alive and well with the TLS ,that may be acceptable in some other parts of the world but I though freedom of speech was an American icon that is not part of this biased site

  40. I cant believe one of the comments here. Someone mentioned that, what will Larry do on shabbos and other jewish holidays. I am not sure if that person realizes but the Mayor of our town is jewish!

  41. Lakewood fire personal put their lives on the line every time there is a fire in town. They do not get paid for their service. They are volunteers. They know how to fight fires. All the commissioners were long time fire fighters. Now you got a new one who knows nothing about fighting fires. Where are the 200 new fire fighters that were supposedly ready to join? They had better get ready because some of the Lakewood fire fighters do not live in this town. They were brought up here and have ties to this town and want to help this town out of LOYALTY. However, those that live out of town would be graciously accepted into that towns volunteer fire department with open arms. Just thinking out loud……

  42. I think that this election will bring out the true feelings of the firefighters. How do they really feel about the Jewish community. This election will just bring some checks and balances to the FD. Is that what they are afraid of? If not for all the revenue the Jewish community generates for the Township the FD would never have any new trucks. So dont bite the hand that feeds. G-d bless all

  43. Number 72 is right! MOST of the taxes in this town comes from all the new homes that are being built DAILY. I do not understand what the problem is if our community wants to have someone who overseas the budget. This is OUR money too!

  44. Lets not blame the firefighters for being upset thinking their dept has just got destroyed and will now become another corrupt lkwd dept and fall to the ground. We cant blame them for believing such claims. After all the (moderated) have been stuffing this garbage down their throats for some time now. Mike Delia was the one who actually stood up against his fellow commissioners and said enough with the lying and its time to come clean. Thanks Mike for being an honest straight shooter and fighting for whats right!

  45. The community went out to prove a point that if they want something they’ll get it regardless the outcome, now just be prepared to NOT have volunteers respond when that tone comes out. Volunteers too can prove a point and I think theirs will have a much bigger outcome. Remember their VOLUNTEERS they won’t get fired or get in trouble if they decide not to get out of bed at 2:30 am to respond to a call. The community really should have thought this through before they opened
    this can of worms. And remember if the response time gets slower that means the ISO rating drops which then means…..wait for it……HIGHER FIRE TAXES!!!!!! Well thought out Lakewood!

  46. Members of the FD please don’t take this whole issue personal.
    Lakewood taxpayers are simply frustrated with status quo and taking it out on every department.
    Especially in these times where average families are struggling to make ends meat. Families feel insecure . Most of us have to do more with less. Always, but certainly in these times, voter want to get a sense that administrators of our tax money are frugal and careful with the funds.
    And yes image is also important. Administrators may be careful custodians of public funds but by running a surplus it sends the wrong message to the taxpayers. Also if you need to renovate a fire house make the case to the public first. Convince us that it is absolutely necessary.
    The public does not want the services to disappear we just want zero waste and maximum bang for the buck the same that we want for our own households.
    Truth be told the fire budget is small fry. The real action will take place with the larger departments.

  47. Why won’t you post my comment? You are a news outlet correct? In the USA freedom of speech is one of our constitutional rights which you are denying by blocking and moderating peoples comments. If you are going to act like a news outlet you should do so and not block the public from the truth instead of letting then hear what you puppet masters want them to hear.

  48. Larry congrats on your new job you better be ready for some late night phone calls. I am a firefighter in Lakewood I will continue to fight fires for the town. BUT the first time I feel you had cut out something that has to do with my safety I will be forced to take my retirement from the LFD. If the town wants to cut the budget to the point where we have to bond for equipment that is fine by me. Just understand I will not put my life or the lives of my men and women on the line with a piece of faulty equipment. I have one question for you? You said you are going to streamline the application process. How are you going to do it? The requirments are in place by state and federal law. not made up by the FD. Our company has turned down one application in the last 20 years I have been a part of the FD. That was for a criminal offense. Also I am expecting to have all phone numbers where you can be reached Home, cell, work, by our next company meeting. After all I have all of the other commissioners phone numbers and can be reached at any time. Thanking you in advance one of your line officers.

  49. Freedom of speech means that you have every right to say what you want, and the government cannot stop you or put you in jail for it. You may open a blog and say whatever you want.

    TLS does not have to post every hateful comment on his blog. You want to post a hateful comment, you have the right to do it on your own blog.

    (PS, those who worry about freedom of speech on the internet should try to do everything they can to stop President Obama and the Democrats in Congress from enacting the bill the gives President Obama total control of the internet, where he would be able to decide which websites can stay up and which websites should be taken down. If that G-d forbid happens, we as a country will have no more freedom of speech.)

  50. as you should know just because of a surplus that doesnt get added to the taxes.. their is the total budget minus surplus the balance is what gets raised by taxation…as a firefighter in another town who has spent many hrs either working in lakewood or coming to fires in town the lack of support for the budget is a bite at the dept towrangle control of the monies by the “community” i think the only thing done will be a hurt on the departnment to provide 24/7/365 fire department to the residents of lakewood wether its a career ff or volunteer responding to the calls. hope they all remain safe on every call they respond to.

  51. I voted for Vinny, sorry for you loss! I feel really bad for the citizens of Lakewood….
    Time to sell my house and get out of here, anyone interested??

  52. Well, numbers 72 and 73, I was wondering how long it would take before the anti semitic card was played. Please, it’s so worn out and tiring and belongs in the same class as blacks playing the race card when they don’t get their way or someone disagrees with them.
    No one would mind the results if people had questioned and voted on information they had gathered and processed instead of following some disenchanted parties like lemmings.
    And no one would have cared an iota about a Jewish commissioner if he was qualified to serve in that office. And that means having more qualifications than just the state’s saying you just have to be a taxpayer. You need some type of fire related experiences and personally I wouldn’t care if it came from Brooklyn, north Jersey, anywhere. You need some type of understanding of this job.
    The state makes qualifications and issues certificates for teachers. Would you be happy with a person in your school who is state approved but knows nothing about Jewish law and traditions?
    The fire department is the most diverse group pf people that you’ll ever find. And we did it on our own, not forced like many other agencies.

  53. Just so you know nothing I’m trying to post is “hateful” just truthful I’m not bad mouthing a single person and my posts will not be put up. Answer that for me!

  54. I agree with what one of my other brother line officers has stated in comment #77, do not put my safety or any other firefighter on the line. I know the standards and regulations and if any of them is not followed will be forwarded to the DCA, State and Feds for review.
    Lakewood Fire Dept. will continue to fully comply with OSHA 1910.134, OSHA 1910.120, OSHA 1910.156, NFPA 1971, NFPA 1976 and criminal background checks, this Department will not be like the Kiryas Joel FD.

  55. I’m a bit clueless, who cares what religion the Fire Commissioners are. They are not tasked with fighting a fire, they are tasked with running its administration.

  56. Congratulations Juan, welcome aboard Larry and thank you to Mr. LoBello for your years of service.

    I am saddened by some of the unfortunate commentary. It does not bring people together and does not inspire people to serve the Township.

  57. #89 where are these 75 people that want to volunteer????? I would really love to know where they are putting in their requests because it sure isn’t my fire company. I am a line officer for one of the fire company’s in Lakewood and I can assure you that EVERYONE that has applied to become a memeber in our company and went through with the entire application process HAS become a memeber and HAS been put through fire academy in a timely fashion. So please enlighten us on where these individuals are becasue they are NOT here!

  58. The Lakewood fire dept will never be the same. You punish a man that did a great job and was available 24/7. You put someone with no experience in his place. Vince, you can hold your head high knowing that many people realize how great you were for the LFD. We can never thank you enough.

  59. One more thing. which I just don’t understand. why do we have all these negative comments back and forth about who rightly deserves to be Fire Commissioner? This is not a political appointment like a cabinet member or a judge this is a democratic process were the will of the people reigns. sure people can organize behind a candidate.
    but ultimately the PEOPLE pick who they want. If the incumbent was such a good choice, why was he not voted in? the bottom line is that the budget surplus seemed like a bad thing to voters, and they chose to vote in a new commish. If the FD and the Lobello supporter are right about everything than in 2 short years there will be another election and the citizens will choose again. its really quite simple. On the other hand If the new commish effects changes and they turn out all right then you will see that all this vitriol is being spewed (by both sides) for nothing and EVERYONE will be better off. just wait and see. personally I don’t understand what everyone is worried about even assuming that Loigman is no good, do you really think that he will destroy (by himself, as one seat on a 5 person board) al that Lobello and Co have built in 20 years?!?. so clam down and see what happens. like i said there is always another election. good luck to all.

  60. Thank you Vince for all that you have done. I speak for myself and a number of other residents when I say that we are extremely saddened you were pushed out due to (moderated). RIP LFD

  61. Bill, There are certain people in this township who would do ANYTHING to keep people from coming together. Rough around the edges Mr Lobello surely is, but there is no one who has given as much time and sweat to the town and it’s people than Vince. Yet the things written that he was accused of? . This wasn’t a popularity contest or a religious contest although the anti fire dept people made it one,it was for someone to do what was right for both the town and the taxpayers. As a business and multiple property owner Vince pays taxes too, think he cheers when they go up? And the lies keep on coming even now even as the anti fire people crow. 75 frum volunteers? Only in someone’s dreams, cause if they had applied they would be being processed according to state rules, not ours.
    What we all need is a peacemaker to try to bring everyone together on the same page. But at this moment I don’t see any, and the victors don’t want one. God hope there’s no major fires for awhile.

  62. The people have spoken. Why is this diff than any other elections? If the winners do not live up to the standards, then we have a chance to vote again in 2 years. By the way, i hope all the people commenting here, voted last night. Because if you did not, then you are a hypocrite. Do not say your opinion when you don’t do your part and vote. I think the main issue that people cared about is why is there a surplus on the budget. This directly affects our taxes. Now can everyone stop the hateful comments and embrace the winners because they are going to serve the town- whether you like it or not. (And, yes, i did vote- for Larry and Ortiz.)

  63. I believe the very end is near as we know it and that is called the lakewood Volunteer Fire Department,,, God Luck to the LEC, Larry, TLS and those 200 you said you have to join the fire department may want to get their gear and smell the smoke

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